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Researchers at the °µÍø½âÃÜ have been awarded funding to explore the role oncolytic viruses – which selectively infect and kill tumour cells – might play in the treatment of certain forms of brain tumour.
The viruses have previously been shown to attack tumour cells directly and can also help activate the immune system, potentially improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
That could have particular relevance for people affected by gliomas because while immunotherapy has improved treatment for many cancers, most gliomas do not respond well to it.
A new project – led by Lecturer and researcher
Dr Jon Gil Ranedo
alongside Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Dr Claudia Barros
, in the University’s
Brain Tumour Research Centre
of Excellence – aims to begin exploring ways to address that.
Supported by funding from the Royal Society, the researchers will investigate how changes in glioma stem cells (or GSCs) affect their vulnerability to oncolytic virus and whether that can be used to identify targets for novel treatment options.
Dr Gil Ranedo and Dr Barros will be collaborating with Professor José MarÃa Almendral at the Centre for Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa, Autonomous University of Madrid.
The work will build on previous studies by Dr Gil Ranedo and Professor Almendral which has demonstrated that an oncolytic virus – the minute virus of mice (MVM) – is able to eliminate glioma stem cells in preclinical brain tumour models.
Now, the researchers intend to map out changes in GSCs as they switch between active, resting, and differentiating states, and investigate whether MVM infection can reshape how these cells interact with the immune system.
Dr Jon Gil Ranedo
Dr Claudia Barros